Gerard Butler celebrates the premiere of “Chasing Maverick” on October 18 (Trailer)

The Cast from “Chasing Maverick” posed on a red carpet where Poducer Mack Johnson, and actors from the movie
celebrate the premiere of the 20th Century Fox’s “Chasing Maverick” on October 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

CHASING MAVERICKS is the inspirational true story of surfing phenom Jay Moriarity (newcomer Jonny Weston). When 15 year old Jay discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, is near his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) to train him to survive it. As Jay and Frosty embark on their quest to do the impossible, they form a unique friendship that transforms their lives, and their quest to tame Mavericks becomes about more than surfing. CHASING MAVERICKS was made with the help of some of the biggest names in the surfing world, and features some of the most mind-blowing wave footage ever captured on film.
Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media present a Gran Via / Deuce Three production, starring Gerard Butler in CHASING MAVERICKS. The film also stars Jonny Weston, Elisabeth Shue, and Abigail Spencer. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson and Michael Apted.

There is a saying that if you hail from the Northern California town of Santa Cruz, you are born with a surfboard in one hand and a skateboard in the other. But that isn’t the only adage the seaside community abides by. The residents are also fiercely true to the motto “Live Like Jay,” a saying – and a lifestyle – dedicated to the memory of a local surfer named Jay Moriarity.
“The initial relationship between Frosty and Jay is mentor and pupil. As the story develops, their bond becomes more complicated, more emotional, and more in the territory of father and son. By the end of the story, the child is father to the man. So the movement of the film is a bit of a role reversal as to who is the mentor.”

Gerard Butler and newcomer Jonny Weston bring Frosty and Jay to life on the big screen. Butler, who following his triumphant success as a peerless warrior in “300,” has become one of today’s most versatile and in-demand actors, is, says Apted, “a movie star and the rock on which we built CHASING MAVERICKS. He dramatized the internal struggles that Frosty must navigate in the course of the film. A lot of the cast were young and were able to learn from Gerard’s experience.”
“Jonny brings a freshness and curiosity to the role. He could have been intimidated by the challenges, but he had the ability to listen and learn. Once Jonny saw the way through a problem, he doggedly stuck with it.”
“Jonny is Jay,” adds producer Brandon Hooper. “There was just this purity in his eyes and in his spirit.”

Butler notes that one of the film’s key themes is: connections. “In many ways, the film is about connecting with nature, to spirituality, and connecting with another person. The connection that grows between Frosty and Jay is the most compelling aspect of the story
The connection between Weston and Butler mirrored the one they were depicting. “From the second Jonny screen tested, everybody fell in love with him. We really had a kind of Jay-Frosty / mentor-friend relationship; it was very much life imitating art.”

CHASING MAVERICKS was filmed on locations where much of Jay’s life unfolded, including Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and Mavericks itself, as well as residential streets where the real-life characters’ actual homes had been situated. “It’s beautiful that we were able to film where everything really happened,” says Butler. “It’s great for the story because it gives it an additional layer of verisimilitude.”

The filmmakers did not have to look far to find an impressive list of big wave surfers who wanted to participate in the making of CHASING MAVERICKS. In doing so, they paid tribute to an impressive legacy: When Jay had what was considered the biggest surfing wipeout to date and shortly thereafter rode the perfect wave; it changed the world of big wave surfing forever.
CHASING MAVERICKS rides into theaters everywhere October 26.